During a “Monday Night Football” game at Seattle last season, Woods caught a career-best 10 passes for the Buffalo Bills in a loss to the Seahawks.

Woods was targeted 13 times, which he considered proof...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 19:50:00 PSTInvestigation of embattled L.A. school board member now includes conflict-of-interest allegationsHoward Blumehttp://www.latimes.com/la-me-edu-wider-rodriguez-probe-20171213-story.html
In the three months since prosecutors filed criminal charges against him, Ref Rodriguez has continued to go about his duties on the Los Angeles Board of Education. He attends meetings, sponsors resolutions, tweets life-affirming messages — and firmly brushes aside calls to step down.

That would be the 2016 season opener against top-ranked Alabama, when the No. 20...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:50:00 PSTWitnesses saw snapped, sparking power line at start of destructive L.A. wildfireBrittny Mejia, Paige St. Johnhttp://www.latimes.com/la-me-fire-cause-creek-fire-20171213-story.html
The search for causes behind Southern California’s wildfires now includes witness reports of a snapped line on a high-voltage transmission tower in Little Tujunga Canyon, sending off sparks as it whipped high overhead.

The incident occurred at the start of the Creek fire, which burned more than...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:50:00 PSTKentucky state lawmaker kills himself following molestation allegationMatt Pearcehttp://www.latimes.com/la-na-kentucky-lawmaker-20171213-story.html
A Kentucky state lawmaker accused of molesting a teenager committed suicide Wednesday after denying the allegation and refusing calls by leaders of both parties to resign, according to local media reports.

State Rep. Dan Johnson, also a pastor who called himself “pope,” was the subject of an extensive...

The Clippers shot 54 percent in the second half to win their third straight in a matchup of injury-riddled...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:45:00 PSTNew Angel Shohei Ohtani's elbow injury has not derailed other pitchersPedro Mourahttp://www.latimes.com/la-sp-angels-winter-meetings-20171213-story.html
Pitching causes tears within pitchers’ elbows. It always has. Evidence shows that the harder pitchers throw, the more likely significant tears are to develop, and the more likely they are to eventually require surgery to fix those tears. New Angel two-way player Shohei Ohtani throws exceptionally...
]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:40:00 PSTThe 100-million-year itch: Scientists find ticks that fed on dinosaur bloodAmina Khanhttp://www.latimes.com/la-sci-sn-dinosaur-ticks-20171213-story.html
Scientists have made a skin-crawling discovery: Ancient ticks, trapped in amber, that fed on the blood of feathered dinosaurs nearly 100 million years ago.

The specimens, described in the journal Nature Communications, include the oldest dinosaur parasite to be found together with remains from...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:35:00 PSTHuntington Beach girls' soccer loses to rival Los Alamitos at Mater Dei tournamentMatt Szabohttp://www.latimes.com/tn-dpt-sp-huntington-beach-girls-soccer-los-alamitos-20171213-story.html
It is somewhat unusual for high school girls’ soccer teams from the same league to be placed in the same group in preseason tournaments.

Huntington Beach and Los Alamitos were not only both placed in Group D for the Mater Dei Premier Invitational, but the Sunset League rivals met in their very...

Update: The Ducks will be without top scorer Corey Perry (22 points) after he injured his right knee during Monday's victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Ducks recalled rookie Kevin Roy to replace...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:05:00 PSTJurors vote for death penalty for mother's boyfriend in torture killing of 8-year-old Palmdale boyMarisa Gerberhttp://www.latimes.com/la-me-ln-gabriel-fernandez-murder-penalty-20171213-story.html
Jurors on Wednesday voted for the death penalty for a man convicted of fatally torturing his girlfriend’s young son — a savage slaying that led to sweeping reform within Los Angeles County’s child-welfare system.

The verdict ended a murder trial in which jurors heard and saw disturbing evidence...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:00:00 PSTPBS suspends distribution of Tavis Smiley's talk show due to misconduct allegationsAssociated Presshttp://www.latimes.com/la-et-st-tavis-smiley-suspension-20171213-story.html
PBS said Wednesday it has indefinitely suspended distribution of Tavis Smiley's talk show after an independent investigation uncovered "multiple, credible allegations" of misconduct by its host.

PBS said it had engaged an outside law firm to investigate "troubling allegations" against the host,...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:55:00 PSTClippers' Austin Rivers out after elbow to headBroderick Turnerhttp://www.latimes.com/la-sp-clippers-rivers-20171213-story.html
Clippers guard Austin Rivers was accidental elbowed in the head with seven seconds left in the second quarter and didn’t return against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night at Amyway Center.

The Clippers would say only that Rivers was “being tested.”

Rivers went down hard after taking an inadvertent...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:50:00 PSTLakers' Lonzo Ball looks forward to playing against longtime hero LeBron JamesTania Gangulihttp://www.latimes.com/la-sp-lakers-report-20171213-story.html
As a kid, Lonzo Ball would lower the basketball hoop in his backyard in Chino Hills to about seven feet before he emulated one of his idols.

On that short hoop he’d try LeBron James’ signature one-handed dunk.

As he grew up, Ball’s game began to take on other qualities similar to James’ game.

Cota’s father, Chad, played for Oregon’s 1995 Rose Bowl team and his cousin Brady Breeze is a freshman safety...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:40:00 PSTAttorney for man at center of bribery probe linked to USC player says his client denies wrongdoingNathan Fennohttp://www.latimes.com/la-sp-usc-basketball-20171213-story.html
The attorney for David Elliott, the man at the center of the alleged bribery case that has sidelined USC sophomore De’Anthony Melton for the first seven basketball games this season, “unequivocally” denies his client accepted any money in relation to Melton or otherwise violated NCAA rules.

In the months leading up to Tuesday’s U.S. Senate race, the community activist and a band of mostly black women registered college students to vote, waved signs on street corners...

]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:10:00 PSTDisney's deal to buy Fox studio could bring substantial layoffs, analysts sayRyan Faughnder, David Nghttp://www.latimes.com/la-fi-ct-fox-disney-fallout-20171213-story.html
Walt Disney Co.’s imminent purchase of much of 21st Century Fox may be a boon to investors as the company moves to bulk up on assets that will help it compete in a rapidly changing media industry. But the deal, expected to be announced Thursday, also could bring substantial job cuts in Southern...
]]>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:10:00 PSTPolitics has veered from one side to the other, but Doug Jones' win in Alabama suggests the need to hew to the centerCathleen Decker, Mark Z. Barabakhttp://www.latimes.com/la-na-pol-politics-analysis-20171213-story.html
The Democratic win Tuesday in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race may have seemed the most striking example yet of the bitterly negative tenor of American politics in the last several decades, as it has veered from one political pole to the other like a frenetic metronome.